Honesty is the best policy? How far do you agree?

It still applies nowadays. I always tell my kids that being honest is the greatest good they can do for themselves and for other people. Being honest is not only being true to yourself, but bearing with you your dignity as a person in any place and time. You can always compel honesty because you yourself is following it. You can always condemn dishonest people, for you won't be afraid of "Bad Karma". As always, "honesty", among the other virtues, follows the Golden Rule.

Honesty is the best policy - almost alwasy. I feel it is never acceptable to tell a lie, but there are some things that you do not need to tell someone. You should avoid causing harm and sorrow in others if it is at all avoidable

I still believe that honesty is the best policy regardless of the situation. It is better to be honest than to lie about things. Lying will only get you in trouble later on. You may get away with it for a little while but it will catch up to you later. I always try to be honest with myself, my family and friends and my coworkers and students. It does seem that many people have gotten away with being honest. All we have to do is look at all the people that are in prison these days.

In the end, the ultimate judgment is judgment of yourself. And at that judgment, you only have yourself, your integrity and what you see as your truth. In this context perhaps being honest in school work is seen as different to the ultimate in honesty, but is there really a difference. A person who is dishonest, lies to himself and while using lies will probably dig a nice little hole where ultimately he no longer knows what truth is. Until of course that day of judgment when he sees his life and asks whether he has been virtuous or not. The saying The truth shall set you free is pretty true. There is something about being honest that leaves your slate clean and clear from guilt and dirt. I'm not saying I have never lied - because I have. But I get so much more relief from being honest - ultimately with myself.

I still think that honesty is the best policy. I saw a lot of examples in life, that honesty won the first place, let my share with you one of those examples. I worked on an insurance company, for almost six years. I was working with a large amounts of clients and agents that represented the company. There were a lot of young agents that did make a large amount of policies and had a lot of clients. one of those agents did 400 policies of life insurance every month, he was young, smart, and was known as the best thing that the insurance company had. there was another agent that was already in his mid 50's, he started to work at the same time that the young agent did. and he did about 30 to 40 policies in a month. when i had to choose a new agent for all of my insurances i decided to do a little research on each one. and then i saw that this young agent misled so many clients while selling them a policy, that it was only a matter of time, till they found out about it, and have a problem and see what was done. and a short period after it started to happen, clients realized that he was not honest with them and started to complain and stop the insurance policies. this other agent had no complained, and when i talked to his customers the first sentence that they said, was that they choose him, because he is an honest person, and even tough his policies were a bit more expansive they would rather be with him, because they believe, when the time comes he will help them. honesty and trust is the most important thing in a person that sells, they said. I did give him all of my policies and my families, and when my mother had to have a complicated medical procedure, he was there, doing everything, and even went to visit her at the hospital twice. that was about ten years ago. all of his clients are still with him. and many more clients were added to his list, because they heard of his honesty. Not long ago my mother got a phone call from another insurance company that offered the same deal in a low price. she told them that she would never give up on her insurance agent, because he represents as a human being, everything that is important to her, and she trusts him. And there are many stories like that. Maybe honesty does mean that things will be a bit slower till you will get to the top, but at least you know, that when you will get there, the bricks won't start falling. so. yes. i believe that honesty is the best policy, honesty leads to trust. and i will stick with that.

All I can say is in most 'civilized' cultures, honesty in general interaction is generally punished, with politeness (even if dishonest) being preferred. In almost all situations, you are better off not giving an opinion rather than being honest. Telling the truth only potentially subjects you to liability, and people will often be offended if your truth does not match theirs. Granted, blatant lying doesn't generally work as an overall policy either. But from my observations, society prefers white lies (politeness, or being politically correct) on social issues, and wants you to be quiet about anything important. Which is really too bar for a society that claims to value freedom of expression. I think you will agree with me, won't you??

Yeah i firmly believe honesty is the best policy. I don't like to lie and am wary of liars. I feel in today's times when people lie very conveniently to get their way. I feel though one may face tough times if one is honest but people really trust and admire honest people because they are a rare breed. And yes sometimes it may take longer for truthful person to be successful but the success one gets is more fulfilling and permanent. Good karma really pays. And for me satisfaction of having clear conscience is more important than to lie for short term gains.

i agree to this fully

yes i do agree...

well i believe in it to its full extent. i think if we will present facts nothing will go wrong. this is simply because in business, when you meet with clients, if you present them with factual data, they will no longer question it.

I'm stick to it and probably more emphasize on it when the bible says that we need to be honest in a little thing the way we are honest in big things so that means that honesty has no exception rule. If we are protecting someone or something better not to talk about it so it would refrain us from lying. Heard the saying that more talks more mistakes, less talk less mistake, no talk no mistake.

I try to be as honest as I can. Sadly sometimes you have to lie a bit to protect people. That said I find honesty to be the easiest policy (if not the best) as I don't have to remember who I told what lie too. Makes things less complicated.

i still believe this saying.when you are honest you are doing it to yourself and not any other person.And i know that nothing you do to youself either good or bad that you will not see the end result.

I think it's the best policy unless it's going to seriously hurt someone's feelings. Then I see nothing wrong with a lie by omission.

The saying may not be said much nowadays, but the concept is still sound! I think there are still a lot of us out there who think honesty is a good attribute to have! I like knowing that people can trust me and that they feel I am honest and won't lie to them. I wouldn't have it any other way!

What ever it is said against the poverb but still the poverb has a truthful fact that honesty is the best policy! Who follows and who are not is other issue and those who are considering this policy holders / followers foolish persons is an issue of their own short sightedness!

I always consider and I try to be very respectful and kind about. i feel being honest is not voicing an opinion, however an opinion may be included if someone asks for it. So, far everyone that I know of really respects me for being honest. however, honesty and dishonesty become a habit. Some people practice dishonesty and can lie with a straight face without even being noticed. Others lie so much that they don't even know what the truth is anymore. But who are they deceiving?

yes, even if it is not the easy way, honesty will pay out in the long run. mahalo lopaka

In every rule there is an exemption. At a time, being honest may cause harm to others. That's the time we use white lies.

...i may be a fool but i do still am living up to this policy. i find life easier when i can simply be honest with everything and with everyone. like in a relationship, i don´t need to pretend to be someone else - i am simply who i am and what i am. for most of my friends and family i am actually an open book - and i am not even regretting it. sometimes i dont even hve to say anything but they still get the message accross. i like it that way and will also keep it that way. to other people or stranger is also good to be honest at all times - you never know that someone´s honesty will also be of help to you. being honest you may also be able to touch someone´s life who will in turn become honest, and the people he comes into contact to will also become honest - ahhh! what a wonderful world it would be...